EDITORIAL 



453 



Because of the fact that the actual practice of forestry 

 in this country is almost entirely confined to forests 

 under public ownership, forestry is at present largely 

 a National and State profession. Anything which tends 

 to cripple the National Forest Service, as the payment 

 of the present inadequate salaries undoubtedly does, 

 is therefore a matter of vital concern to the entire Nation. 

 This point was well brought out in the brief presented 

 by the former Forester, Col. Henry S. Graves, to the 

 Reclassification Commission, in connection with the 

 schedule of salaries suggested by himself and other ad- 

 ministrative officers and employees for foresters in Gov- 

 ernment service. In Col. Graves' words : 



"Practically every forester who leaves the service of 

 the public represents not merely a loss of accumulated 

 experience and training, but also a social loss, since his 

 new activities cease to be a benefit to the public interest. 

 Probably there is hardly another industry in this coun- 

 try at this time where such a divergence exists as be- 

 tween work on public forests and that on privately-owned 

 timberlands. In readjusting the salaries paid foresters 

 in the Government service, this aspect of the situation 

 must be considered. The future of our timber supply, 

 as now handled, and of the multitude of industries de- 

 pendent on it, presents a grave national problem. If 

 our trained foresters, whose chief function should be 

 to develop methods and bring about a continuous tim- 

 ber production on cutover lands, are allowed to drift 

 into the employ of private interests, whose chief con- 

 cern is the cheapest and most effective exploitation ot 

 standing timber without regard to forest replacement, 

 they will aggravate instead of remedying this situation." 



The salaries proposed by the Reclassification Commis- 

 sion range from $840 to $1,800 in the case of the sub- 



professional classes and from $i,8oo up in the case of the 

 professional classes. These figures are considerably 

 less than those recommended by Col. Graves, and fall 

 far short of meeting the increase in the cost of living 

 during the past few years. They are, however, so much 

 more satisfactory than those now in effect, that their 

 immediate enactment into law would be of real benefit 

 both to the individual employees and to the Service. 

 While they could hardly be expected to reduce per- 

 sonnel turnover to a negligible qdantity, they would 

 undoubtedly relieve the present situation and make pos- 

 sible the maintenance of a fairly stable force of ex- 

 perienced men. Amendments should, however, be made in 

 the proposed salaries for the two sub-professional grades, 

 Junior Aid (corresponding to the present Forest Guard) 

 and Senior Forest Aid (corresponding to the present 

 Forest Ranger). The recommended salaries of $840 to 

 $1,200 a year for the former and $1,200 to $1,800 for 

 the latter are less than it is now necessary in many cases 

 to pay for qualified men, and should be increased to 

 perhaps $1,200 to $1,680 and $1,560 to $2,160, re- 

 spectively. 



Everyone who is interested in seeing the integrity of 

 the Forest Service maintained, and in effect this means 

 the integrity of the entire profession, should do every- 

 thing in his power to bring about prompt action by 

 Congress on the recommendations of the Reclassification 

 Commission. It is absolutely essential that relief from 

 the present pressure of inadequate salaries be secured, 

 and the Commision's report offers a concrete means of 

 securing such a relief. Since the present report applies 

 only to the Washington force, it is equally essential that 

 steps should be taken to secure a similar readjustment 

 of compensation for the field force in the immediate 

 future. 



LUMBERMEN ENDORSE REFORESTATION 



A CLEAN cut endorsement of the principle that seed 

 **- trees should be left on every acre of forested land 

 which at the time of cutting is not considered cultivable 

 was the remarkable stand taken by progressive Louisiana 

 lumbermen at a meeting of a special legislative committee 

 of the Louisiana Forestry Association which met at 

 New Orleans on May 13. This committee was com- 

 posed of President Hardtner, of the Louisiana Forestry 

 Association ; M. L. Alexander, Commissioner of Con- 

 servation of Louisiana, and the following lumbermen or 

 their accredited representatives : E. A. Frost, Frost- 

 Johnson Lumber Company, of Shreveport; W. H. Mana- 

 gan, Krause & Managan Lumber Company, of Westlake ; 

 S. T. Woodring, Calcasieu Longleaf Lumber Company, 

 of Lake Charles ; W. H. Sullivan, Great Southern Lum- 

 ber Company, of Bogalusa, and C. E. Slagle, Louisiana 

 Central Lumber Company of Clarks. 



This committee unanimously approved the following 

 law for incorporation in the present forestry statutes of 

 Louisiana : 



* * * Be it further enacted, etc., that the owner or 



owners of forested lands which shall be cut over or 

 denuded subsequent to the passage of this Act, or those 

 who cut over or denude forest lands belonging to an- 

 other, shall be required to leave standing on each section 

 or fractional part thereof an average of one seed tree 

 per acre to promote the natural reforestation of the same, 

 provided 



That the provisions of this Act shall not apply to lands 

 which the owner shall declare to be susceptible of cul- 

 tivation and intended for sale or development as such; 

 declaration of the cultivable character of forest lands 

 shall be made at annual intervals, in writing and in 

 advance of cutting or denuding, to the Commissioner of 

 Conservation. 



So far as is known this is the first time that a repre- 

 sentative group of lumbermen have publicly enunciated 

 the principle that non-agricultural timbered lands should 

 be left after lumbering in a condition to reforest natural- 

 ly. It is a recognition of the principle that lands which 

 are not suitable for other purposes should not be allow- 

 ed to become a public nuisance and a burden upon the 

 community as a result of absolute clean cutting. 



